The climax of the richest
squash event on the PSA Tour this year between the World Open
champion, who is also now the world number one, and one of the sport's
legends fresh from winning two medals in the Commonwealth Games,
lived up to all expectations in the final of the Virtual Spectator
Bermuda PSA Masters in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Egypt's top seed Amr
Shabana was taken the full distance by England's
sixth seed Peter Nicol, but ultimately prevailed to win the PSA
Super Series Platinum event, presented by Logic and hosted by
Endurance, in a 65-minute encounter which had it all!
First blood went to Nicol,
who seemed prepared to play long, patient rallies and wait for fellow
left-hander Shabana to make mistakes. Both played superlative shots, and
recovered the impossible, with Nicol moving well around the court.
The second game saw the
positions reverse. Shabana raced into the lead, and Nicol had to work much
harder to avoid giving Shabana any opportunity to play his devastating
drops.
A similar pattern started in
the third game with the 26-year-old from Cairo looking more confident with
every rally. Nicol led 6-3 at one point, but Shabana came back strongly to
win it and move into a 2/1 lead.
At this point it appeared to
be the beginning of the end for Nicol - but he shocked the capacity crowd by
completely dominating the fourth game while Shabana seemed to lose heart
with a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors. Nicol was serving for
game ball before Shabana could even get on the score sheet with two
unreturnable drops. Not to be denied, Nicol put the game away with a superb
drive, wrong-footing the Egyptian.
Shabana came out for the
decider with all guns blazing and raced into a 7-1 lead. Both of these
incredible athletes were playing superbly and retrieving as though this was
the first, rather than the fifth, game. Then it was time for Nicol to surge
back as he tried valiantly to catch up. At 5-9 the two played an incredible
rally, won by Nicol, resulting in thunderous applause from an expectant
crowd, and this was followed by yet another marathon rally during which both
players pulled off miraculous retrievals which many in the audience simply
could not believe because they burst into applause thinking a winning shot
had been played, only to realise the rally was still in play!
When Shabana finally tinned
the ball, the crowd simply erupted as Nicol appeared to be on the verge of
catching up the World Champion. However, Shabana reached match point when
Nicol hit a return volley out of court. Shabana failed in his first attempt,
hitting into the tin – but, in one final brilliant rally, hit an unbeatable
forehand drive down the wall, and it was all over, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11,
11-8.
The crowd rose as one to
acknowledge two incredible athletes, both of whom gave their all, and then
some, in their bid to become the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters 2006
Champion.
"Amr Shabana fully deserved
his victory, but in truth there were two winners on court when this match
ended," said event spokesman Roger Sherratt.
“I’m gob smacked,” said
Nicol. “It was a great game of squash. There were only three or four
decisions in the whole match, which is the way it should be played. We
played at a very fast pace, both going for our shots. It was very
exciting. In the last game I made a few mistakes and gave him a good start
and he was able to stay ahead. He played slightly better than me at the end
so he deserves it. I think he’s going to be world champion for years to
come.”
Of his third visit to
Bermuda, Nicol said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed coming to Bermuda. This
tournament just gets better and better. We had a fabulous crowd, and I love
it here.”
After being crowned
champion, Amr Shabana commented: “First, I’d like to thank Peter for his
kind words. He is a legend of the game. All respect to Peter. It was a
tough match, he's an amazing player. He started off so fast and quick he
caught me by surprise a little. I started to see the ball better in the
second and was able to get more control of the centre of the court.
"I've got absolute respect
for Peter, he raised the bar for all of us - he's an inspiration.
"It's been a great
tournament, the crowd, the organisation, the sponsors have all been
perfect," added Shabana, after his third PSA title of the year, and the 12th
of his career.
Official website:
www.bermudamasters.com
Follow the action live
on: www.psalive.tv
Issued on
behalf of: PSA
